1. Social class, teachers, and medicalisation lag: a qualitative investigation of teachers' discussions of ADHD with parents and the effect of neighbourhood-level social class.
- Author
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Simoni, Zachary
- Subjects
DISCUSSION ,GROUNDED theory ,RESEARCH methodology ,COMMUNITIES ,INTERVIEWING ,ATTENTION-deficit hyperactivity disorder ,QUALITATIVE research ,TEACHERS ,COMMUNICATION ,SOCIAL classes ,ELEMENTARY schools ,DATA analysis ,THEMATIC analysis ,PARENTS - Abstract
While medical sociologists have explored how teachers aid the medicalisation process of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), there is a paucity of work investigating the role of neighbourhood-level social class. This paper has two main aims. First, to explore how teachers discuss ADHD with parents, and second, to understand how these discussions differ based upon neighbourhood-level social class. To achieve these aims, I utilise grounded theory and interviews with thirty-four elementary school teachers. Emergent themes describe the following process: (a) reifying biological causation of ADHD, (b) evidence gathering, and (c) furtive diagnosis. Findings suggest teachers in upper-class areas skipped steps in the process or easily managed each step while discussing ADHD with parents. Teachers in lower-class areas were met with barriers that affected the likelihood of children receiving a furtive diagnosis from teachers, thus reducing the likelihood of meeting with a medical professional and receiving medical intervention. Findings explain disparities in medication use for ADHD by neighbourhood-level social class and help to explain the social reproduction of social class. By building on the literature regarding cultural capital and mental health literacy, I conceptualise 'medicalisation lag' as integral to the medicalisation process and to the social reproduction of social class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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